the sin against men" (_Çat. Br_. iv. 4. 3. 15; ii. 5. 2. 47). Mitra
and Varuna are, respectively, intelligence and will, priest and
warrior; and while the former may exist without the latter, the latter
cannot live without the former, 'but they are perfect only when they
coöperate' (_ib_. iv. 1. 4. 1).

Of the divine legends some are old, some new. One speaks of the
sacrifice as having been at first human, subsequently changing to
beast sacrifice, eventually to a rice offering, which last now
represents the original sacrificial animal, man.[34] Famous, too, is
the legend of the flood and Father Manu's escape from it (_Çat. Br_.
i. 8. 1. 1 ff.). Again, the Vedic myth is retold, recounting the rape
of _soma_ by the metrical equivalent of fire (_T[=a]itt. Br_. i. 1. 3.
10; _Çat. Br_. i. 8. 2. 10). Another tale takes up anew the old story
of Cupid and Psyche (Pur[=u]ravas and Urvaç[=i]); and another that of
the Hindu Prometheus story, wherein M[=a]tariçvan fetches fire from
heaven, and gives it to mortals (_T[=a]itt. Br_. iii. 2. 3. 2; _Çat.
Br_. xi. 5. 1. 1; i. 7. 1. 11).[35]

Interesting, also, is the tale of Vishnu having been a dwarf, and the
tortoise _avatar_, not of Vishnu, but of Praj[=a]pati; also the
attempt of the evil spirits to climb to heaven, and the trick with
which Indra outwitted them.[36] For it is noticeable that the evil
spirits are as strong by nature as are the gods, and it is only by
craft that the latter prevail.[37]

Seldom are the tales of the gods indecent. The story of Praj[=a]pati's
incest with his daughter is a remnant of nature worship which
survives, in more or less anthropomorphic form, from the time of the
Rig Veda (x. 61.) to that of mediaeval literature,[38] and is found in